Herman Cain: 'I'm not supposed to know anything about foreign policy'

Politico ^

[Sub-Driver]

Herman Cain: 'I'm not supposed to know anything about foreign policy'

By: Maggie Haberman November 16, 2011 10:06 AM EST

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, whose editorial board interview with Herman Cain produced one of the most memorable videos of 2012, spent a day on his campaign bus with some nice highlights.

Among them:

He defended his view that presidents and presidential candidates don't need to be immersed in the fine print of world affairs - they simply need to be leaders who can surround themselves with the right people and sift through their advice.

"I'm not supposed to know anything about foreign policy. Just thought I'd throw that out," he said, a dig at his critics.

"I want to talk to commanders on the ground. Because you run for president (people say) you need to have the answer. No, you don't! No, you don't! That's not good decision-making," said Cain.

[altura]

Yeah, but he’s really denigrating the importance of the office of President here.

Why not just pick someone out of the phone book?

As far as Cain’s advisor quality goes, see Mr. Block.

[commish]

and Obama has the 30,000ths of an inch view of everything. ;-)

[Sudetenland]

Uh-uh! I want to see the entire context of his statement before I go ballistic. I get tired of these 1 or 2 sentence quotations taken out of context with the intent of inferring something that isn't so.

Given his display so far of a limited knowledge of and understanding of foreign policy, this may reflect what occurred accurately, but I'm gonna reserve judgment until I see the whole thing.

[mtg]

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, whose editorial board interview with Herman Cain produced one of the most memorable videos of 2012, spent a day on his campaign bus with some nice highlights.

OK, I'm confused.

[GulfBreeze]

Sigh.... Politico is full of Sh!7 ...

[Jonty30]

Technically he is correct.

The higher up the food chain of leadership you go, the less important it is to have the technical mastery of a subject and the more important it is to have the ability to appoint good people with that technical mastery.

But you should have some understanding of the subject so you can find those good people.

[GulfBreeze]

Sigh.... Politico is full of Sh!7 ...

[xkaydet65]

If he doesn’t know anything (his words) then how does he know who are the right people? He’ll listen to the commanders on the ground, but suppose those officers aren’t as honorable and talented as Petraeus. Suppose they’re perfumed princes like Clark. Will he know that their advice is skewed? I have no experience in foreign affairs, but through reading, traversing the web, watching TV I know much more than Mr. Cain. The average Freeper does too. He has had two months since his “stans” comments and the “right of return” brain freeze and has seemed to have made no effort to educate himself in any matters beyond 9 9 9. He should withdraw from the race immediately. His presence is an embarrassment.

[ZippyTheGreat]

Unlike Newt, Herman hasn’t spent the last decade or more cramming every detail of everything into his cranium, white papers, books, debate prep, etc... we NEED the true conservative to win the nomination, not the sharpest tool in the shed...

Zip

[greene66]

I liked Cain’s quote from yesterday, about “sissy pizza,” far better than this one.

[jobim]

CONSERVATIVES: Do not let the ENEMY MEDIA destroy our candidates. Do not be their USEFUL IDIOTS by posting their stories without using a disclaimer in the title and in your response. Even though we all have favorites, do not use the arguments of the ENEMY MEDIA in support of your criticisms of candidates. Always, always first, put the ENEMY MEDIA in their place, then proceed to make your argument. [This is jobim, and I approve this message.]

[jpsb]

Yeah, there is an element of truth in what Cain says, but how he saying it is terrible. I really don’t know what to make of his statement. I’ll have to think about his one, lol. One thing is for sure he just gave his enemies another stick to beat him with.

[LibLieSlayer]

Well... romney is a one world order communist drone so I guess he knows our enemies foreign policies quite well.

LLS

[pgyanke]

Let’s see... Some President Geniuses:

Wilson
Hoover
Roosevelt
Johnson
Carter
Clinton
Obama

Some Presidents who recognized their own inadequacies and surrounded themselves with experts to help guide them:

Washington
Adams
Coolidge
Eisenhower
Ford
Reagan

I’ll take the “novices”...

[sauropod]

While it is definitely more important to have your loyalties in the right place (unlike the present "occupier" of the White House), one should have some basic understanding of foreign policy in order to properly lead the country.

WHOSE foreign policy?

Cain was speaking as a competent CEO that is used to surrounding himself with well-qualified

[magritte]

not the sharpest tool in the shed...

---

Probably not the best campaign slogan for Cain...

[Dead Dog]

Finally,

A civilian leader that “gets it”

To illustrate the point: “What did Romney know, and when did he learn it”?

A. Romney doesn't know squat, he never has been in a position to learn it. BUT, he thinks he knows something...and that is dangerous.

Obama thinks he knows something too.

[teddyballgame1]

Don’t worry he’s got Kissinger to back him up.

[not2worry]

I’ll take Cain, warts and all.

At least I know what I’m getting.

[sauropod]

Yeah, Perry’s advisors are really on the ball too /eyeroll